The Other
by Mevolent
Summary: What if James Potter had a brother? Would things have been different? Watch the rise of one of the most powerful and dangerous wizards of all time: Hadrian Potter. (Will include all seven years.)
1. I will be great

**The Other **

**What if James Potter had a brother? Would things have been different?**

**Watch the rise of one of the most dangerous and powerful wizards of all time:  
Hadrian Potter**

**Potter Manor, Unplottable**

The wind howled over the forest, like a pack of long dead spirits wailing in their damnation. Past the forest the gust travelled, whistling though the trees and hills and over the streams. The clouds gathered in dark, condensed groups, rumbling and releasing lightening that flashed and illuminating the sky. The cold northern wind finally came to rest outside a large, ornate manor with heavy oak doors. From the outside, joyous laughter and the squeals of children could be heard.

Charles Potter threw back his blond, untameable hair and laughed as his sons attacked the presents under the Christmas tree with an almost animal ferocity. He sat down heavily in the exquisite red armchair near the window, exhausted from his work as a curse-breaker from the night before, and examined his sons while sipping from a red vintage. James was an almost carbon copy of his father were it not for his light, chocolate brown hair. Apart from that, with the mischievous hazel eyes and the messy aspect of his hair, they looked very similar. The boy was obsessed with Quidditch, to the extent that he said that he wanted a snitch every year since he first heard of them. He was also very intelligent, but didn't really apply himself and preferred to play on his broomstick. He abhorred any book that was not on Quidditch.

Speaking of books.., thought Charles, his eyes wandering to where his other son was sitting: cross-legged on the floor. Hadrian had always been a little odd he reflected. When James and he had been younger, Hadrian had hardly ever cried which was a relief for Charles and Dorea as James would wake up shrieking in the middle of the night when he was younger. Whereas James would have been content to fly outside for hours, Hadrian normally stayed indoors reading. He devoured all books he got like a man dying of thirst. He was even doing it now, his eyebrows frowning adorably as he read _Magical Theory by Albert Waffling_. In looks he took after his mother Dorea , with wavy hair the colour of coal and eyes a deep, rich midnight blue. His cheekbones and face held the aristocratic features of the Black family that his mother came from. Both boys had the signs of being magically powerful, as accidental magic had started in both of them when they were young and it was quite impressive magic. James had apparated to the roof of the Manor once and Hadrian had once conjured a spoon when he had dropped his from the baby chair. They were both very different in looks and personality, but got on very well with each other despite their differences. They were practically inseparable.

Charles was interrupted from his musings when a loud bang erupted from the middle of the room. He was on his feet in an instant, grasping for his wand only to find it was gone. He looked to the carpet and saw James waving Charles' wand around with a happy grin. Charles stoic features melted into a smile as he walked over to his son.

"Don't you remember what I told you?" he said, trying and failing to look stern.

James turned towards him, putting on a pensive expression.

"Erm...don't touch dad's wand?" he replied, wearing an innocent expression.

Charles laughed and ruffled his hair.

"You'll be using your wand soon enough: when you're going to Hogwarts!" he said, chuckling.  
"When will that be?" James asked, frowning.  
A voice responded from the middle of the room, stating "When we turn eleven, which will be in 2 months."  
Charles and James both turned around to see Hadrian looking back, with a grin like a Cheshire cat.  
"Correct!" said Charles, smiling at his son./p  
"And I guarantee that it will be the best years of your life."

The next day, Hadrian was sitting in his room reading a book on common spells that had many uses in everyday life. Holding a small stick he had found in his few ventures outside, he was about to practise the Levitation Charm. Focusing on the instructions in the book, he moved his stick. _Swish and flick_ he intoned in his head as he mimicked the wand movement shown in the book. _Ok, let's try it for real now,_ Hadrian thought, putting on a determined face as he pointed his stick at the piece of parchment._ Swish and fl- _The door to his room burst open suddenly, hitting the wall so hard that his alphabetically, meticulously organised bookshelf broke free of its hanging and crashed into the floor.

Hadrian swore and pointed his stick at the source of this problem; a very embarrassed and anxious James Potter.

"What do you want?" Hadrian asked, dropping the stick and slumping on his chair in an irritated way.

James eyed the stick with barely concealed amusement and asked, "Can I borrow your copy of _Hogwarts: A History?"_

Hadrian's eyebrows rose until the point that it looked like they would climb of his head. James just shuffled his feet and looked away embarrassedly.

"Why the sudden interest? You never ask to look at my books before, so why now." Hadrian asked, honestly curious.

James looked around towards the doorway before answering,"I want to know about it. Dad _always_ talks about all the adventures at Hogwarts, and I want to know about it. It just sounds so…so…magical! "He burst out.

Hadrian grinned, thinking back to all the times that he had seen his father talking to James about the wonders of Hogwarts. James had just stared open mouthed with his eyes wide, probably thinking of all the great adventures he was going to have.

"Sure," Hadrian replied, giving a knowing smirk as he handed over the book.

_Well, that was…interesting _he thought as James wandered out. After re-arranging his bookshelf, he returned to practising the wand movement and incantation of the Levitation charm. _Interesting indeed…_

**_Six Weeks Later_**

Hadrian stepped into the living room, wearing plain black robes and black boots. He had to look presentable for his first visit to Diagon Alley. He had read about the street in the book _Great Wizarding Events in the 20__th__ Century._ Apparently it had been almost been completely destroyed during the Second Muggle World War and had to be rebuilt. He couldn't wait to explore it. He was particularly excited about Flourish and Blots.

He made his way over to his father who was standing next to the fireplace, wearing traditional pureblood robes, with the ring of House Potter on his left index finger. Charles glanced at him and opened his mouth but was interrupted by noise of James sliding down the banister. Both father and son looked at him, their faces mirrored in scowling disapproval. James shrugged casually and stood next to Hadrian. Charles grabbed both his sons arms and apparated.

Hadrian felt as though he was toothpaste being squeezed through a particularly narrow tube, while being whisked around on one of those muggle roller-coasters. It was not a pleasant sensation. Just before he thought he was going to be violently sick, the squeezing feeling stopped and he was on solid ground once again. He looked over to see his brother face first in the ground and his father dusting himself off. He snickered, receiving glares from both of them, before looking out at the street in all its glory. Diagon Alley.

Hadrian looked around curiously, trying to take in everything about his surroundings. Witches and wizards went around their own business, shuffling past each other and practically shouting apogees when they bumped into someone. The shops were sandwiched right next to each other, like little houses and there was all sorts of different goods in each of them, everything from Quidditch supplies to magical creatures. He found his eyes wandering to the two shops that interested him the most: Ollivanders and Flourish and Blots. He looked around at James to find him staring at the Quidditch store. Hadrian shook his head exasperatedly.

"Alright then boys," Charles said with a grin on his face," I'll be going to Gringotts. I've got some business with the goblins. In the meanwhile, wander around the Alley and buy some stuff."

With his last words, he took out two bags of galleons and gave them to Hadrian and James. When he was walking away he called back, "Remember, Knockturn is off limits."

Hadrian and James groaned as he walked off. Crushing the feeling of disappointment, turned round to James.

James looked back, his eyes sparkling with mischievousness. "Where do you want to go?" he asked Hadrian, his eyes dating towards the Quidditch shop. Hadrian rolled his eyes. "To Flourish and Blots, obviously," Hadrian drawled. James snorted and lightly punched him on the shoulder before drifting towards the Quidditch shop, like a moth drawn to a flame.

Hadrian walked down the street, moving to avoid the countless streams of people before finding himself before Flourish and Blots. He walked in and looked around. There was a nervous looking secretary biting her lip at the desk and a ginger girl about his age and two older boys, probably her brothers judging from the similarities.

He walked over to the plain bookcase and traced his finger along the rows of books, looking for any that interested him. He decided to buy _Transfiguration: The Power of Change by Albus Dumbledore _and _Advanced Duelling Techniques and Spells by Arcturus Black._ Satisfied, he was about to leave when something caught his eye. Reaching out, he picked up a lone book on shelf. He looked at the book. It was titled _An Introduction to the Dark Arts by Arcturus Black._

Hadrian was conflicted. On one hand, he came from a light family that abhorred the Dark Arts. Even their normally cheerful father got a hard glint in his eye when talking about them and their mother would rant for hours about how evil and dark the Black family is. On the other hand though, he knew very little about the dark arts apart from they were dangerous and 'evil'. Just to check, he flipped through the first of Arcturus' books. There didn't seem to be anything _bad_ in it, just duelling spells and tips when duelling. Hadrian decided to buy it, just to find out what the Dark arts were.

He bought the books along with his school books and exited the shop, just to run into Charles and James. "What did you buy?" James said inquisitively, trying to peek into his bag when his father led them away from the shop. "Just some books," Hadrian replied vaguely. James gave him an annoyed look but shrugged and continued on.

"Where are we going now?" Hadrian asked his father.

Charles looked down and smiled. "Ollivanders" he said, a huge smile appearing on his face. He knew how desperate his sons were to get their wands.

Hadrian and James looked at each other grinning. Hadrian felt a rush of excitement. Finally he would be getting his wand! All he could think about since that moment was what his wand was going to be like. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that it came as a big surprise when they stopped outside a shop which had a sign that read, _Ollivanders, makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C._

They stepped into the gloomy shop and looked around. There was huge shelves holding boxes that Hadrian assumed were containing wands.

"Good evening mister Potter."

All three Potters spun around to face an old man with white hair, whose blue eyes seemed to shine in the darkness of the shop. Hadrian and the other Potters relaxed when they realised who the man was. Ollivander stepped past them and stood behind the counter.

"You still keep good care of it I see," said Ollivander softly as Charles pocketed his wand.

"It has served me well : 9 Inches, Oak, Unicorn Hair as a Core and good for curses if I remember correctly."

"Indeed you do Mister Potter," he confirmed looking pleased. "Now, what boy will be first?"

James answered first. "That would be me sir," he said with a cocky grin as he stepped forward. Ollivander raised an eyebrow before taking strange measurements of James. Even the length of his ears was deemed important! After a few minutes of measuring, he disappeared into the back of a shop, coming out a few minutes later clutching a stack of boxes.

"Try this Mister Potter," Ollivander said, handing him a wand. "13 inches, Willow, Unicorn hair and good for charms. Give it a wave!"

James waved it and one of the Vases on the table shattered.

"No, no, definitely not..." After what seemed like an hour, James finally got his wand : 11 Inches, Mahogany, Dragon Heartstring, good for transfiguration and duelling.

"Now you, Hadrian" said James, admiring his wand while his father patted him on the shoulder, looking proud.

Hadrian stepped forward to get measured. After a minute of ridiculous measuring, he finally got to test for his wand…

"Cherry, Phoenix Feather..No, No _terrible _match.."

Hadrian was taking even longer than James. He was beginning to get worried and impatient. _What if I can't get a wand? _He thought, looking at Ollivanders determined expression. _What if I'm told that I can't go to Hogwarts?_ Another failed wand._ What if they obviate me and send me to live with muggles? What if dad decides to disown me? What if-_

"Try this Hadrian: 11" Holly, Phoenix Feather," said Ollivander, looking at him curiously.

Hadrian waved it. Nothing happened_._ Not even a spark. _Nothing!_

He was beginning to get angry. Damn these stupid wands! _Damn them!_ He was so angry that he didn't even listen to what Ollivander said when he handed him the next wand. When he waved it, a stream of blue flames erupted from the tip, lighting the carpet on fire. Charles yelled and tried to put it out, but the water from the charm he cast just evaporated the moment it touched it. Ollivander grabbed the wand and waved it. The flames snuffed out instantly as if they had vanished.

Everyone in the room was staring at Hadrian and at the wand.

"S-sir," Hadrian asked shakily, breaking the silence. "Can you tell me what the wand is made of."

Ollivander looked at him strangely before replying, "14", Blackthorn wood and a feather from a rare blue Phoenix. An incredible wand for transfiguration and fire related spells. A _very _powerful wand and dangerous in the wrong hands. You will do great things one day Mister Potter. That will be 14 Galleons please."

Charles paid for the two wands and they left the shop, walking down the now almost deserted Alley, both boys staring at their wands I awe. Hadrian made a vow to himself as they looked at the Alley before the apperating away. _I will become great one day _he promised himself as the alley disappeared. _I will be great._


	2. Hogwarts

**The Other**

**Chapter 2: Hogwarts**

**Potter Manor, Unplottable **

Things were busy at Potter Manor today. Charles and Dorea were rushing around hurriedly, trying to get everything ready before they went to the Ministry to work, as Charles had slept in today. This was the day that Hadrian and James went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hadrian watched amusedly as James tried to organise his trunk, stuffing in anything he deemed necessary to bring. James and his father had both overslept, making their parents and James panic. Hadrian, on the other hand, had risen early and packed everything he might need. That included all the books that he had bought from Flourish and Blots, as well as his school equipment and a beautiful midnight black magical owl, about the size of a vulture. He had decided to name him Romulus.

Someone tapped his shoulder, making him jump. He turned round to see James shifting his weight from foot to foot, dressed in black Hogwarts robes and adjusting his gold-wire rimmed glasses.

"This is great!" James said grinning. "We're going to Hogwarts!"

Hadrian gave him a rare smile before replying, "I know. I've read almost everything about the castle in _Hogwarts: A History _and I can't wait to see it for real!"

"Have you tried using any spells yet?" James asked glancing towards the pocket were Hadrian's wand was. "Did any work?" he said, without bothering to wait for an answer.

"Don't be stupid!" Hadrian responded, scoffing. "The Ministry of Magic traces all magic performed by the wands of underage wizards. I thought every magical child knew that."

"Wait a minute…" he said, eyes narrowing. "Don't tell me that you _actually_ tried to use magic, despite the Restriction of Underage Sorcery!" he finished, looking at him like he had grown another head.

"No! Of course not...Well, it didn't work did it?" James responded after seeing his brothers disbelieving expression.

"Fool!" Hadrian spat the word out like it had offended him. "You're lucky you are incompetent, or you could have been expelled before you even stepped foot on the grounds!"

James just shuffled his feet and looked at the ground, his face growing red. Seeing his brother's embarrassment Hadrian sighed, all traces of anger leaving him. _At least it shows that he is taking an interest in things other than Quidditch! _He thought ruefully.

"What spell did you try to use?" Hadrian asked, genuinely curious.

"The lighting charm, _Lumos," _James said, looking embarrassed that he was admitting failing at a spell to his brother.

Hadrian, for his part just shrugged as his father and mother walked into the room, talking quietly. Dorea Potter was a tall woman, James had inherited her height, and her aristocratic features, dark hair and pale skin instantly identified her as a member of the Black family. She wore a dress of deep midnight blue and a matching necklace that looked like thousands of crushed sapphires condensed into a single jewel. Her normally stern expression melted as she saw how exited her sons were at the prospect of going to the magical school they had heard so much about.

She and Charles stepped forward, smiling, and grasped their son's hands. The world spun around him as the now familiar sensation of being sucked through a tube was felt by both boys as they apparated to a train station. _The _train station. Platform 9 and 3 Quarters. Hadrian was instantly assaulted by a loud mixture of shouts, raised conversation, the rolling sounds of trollies being pushed and the hoots of steam from the bright crimson train with the black front, words etched into the side spelling, _The Hogwarts Express._

Picking up his trunk and owl cage, Hadrian followed his brother and parents who were hurrying towards the entrance of the train. As he caught up with them, he heard the end of a conversation between his mother and James.

"…write back every week, we promise," Dorea was saying quickly, smoothing the sleeves of his robes and trying to unsuccessfully make his wild hair more presentable.

Charles smiled proudly at his two sons before turning to James and ordering him, "Look after your brother. It your duty as the eldest to do your best to love him to the best of your ability. Try your best and _study._" He said the last words with a stern look, sending the boys laughing and evaporating the slight sense of annoyance that Hadrian felt when his dad had asked James to look after him_. Like I need supervision_, thought Hadrian, snorting mentally, before he and James turned away from their parents and walked onto the Hogwarts express. They took a seat were their parents could see them easily. As the train released a great gout of hissing steam, a sign that it was about to leave, they looked out the window to see their parents' reactions.

"Good luck boys!" shouted Dorea, sniffling a little as her eyes teared up. Charles slipped an arm around her hip and winked at them before yelling, "Happy adventures, boys. Write back to tell us how you get on!"

The train moved onwards, slowly gaining speed as they left behind their happily waving parents and the rest of the station before maintaining a fast, cruising speed. Hadrian slumped down on his seat heavily. _This is it! _He thought with a flush of excitement, watching the trees and viridian landscape past by as a blur. _I'm finally going to Hogwarts!_ He opened his trunk and took out _Transfiguration: The Power of Change,_ starting up from the last part he was at…

**_Pg. 125-Chapter7: Conjuring_**

_Conjuring is a very difficult aspect of transfiguration, and one that very few wizards have the skill, power and patience to master, or even comprehend. It usually requires years of practise in the art of transfiguration and a N.E.W.T level understanding of the theory behind it but there are a few easy exceptions to this rule, such as the snake conjuring spell, Serpensortia. In this chapter, we will begin by reiterating the theory of inanimate to inanimate transfiguration. This is a crucial foundation block in the theory of conjuring as when you are conjuring; you are essentially transfiguring an inanimate medium to an inanimate object. The inanimate medium in question is magic. To start off a conjuration, you must accurately envision the object you are attempting to conjure in your mind. Think about the shape of the object, the width, the height, the dimensions, what it is made up of and the properties of the material it makes up._

_I will give an example to help with the theoretical side of the conjuring; conjuring marble (For more examples, refer to page 402). If I am about to conjure a block of marble, I therefore have to take into account the size of the marble: small or large. What is the texture of the rock: Rough or smooth? What category of rock does it fall under: Igneous, Metamorphic or sedimentary? What are its properties? Is it heavy or light? All these facts have to be taken into account when conjuring, whether it is rock or wood, avian or reptile. Then there is the advanced theory, which in order to understand you must be familiar with Herpoladdus' third law of… _

Hadrian absentmindedly looked up from the passage, to only to realise that he was now the sole occupant of the carriage. Muttering under his breath about annoying brothers, he put the book back into his trunk and set off to look for his brother. His thoughts drifted though, towards the author of the book he was reading. However eccentric the man appeared in public, there was no denying that Albus Dumbledore was a genius. His book contained complex tranfigurative theories that even Albert Waffling would have to work to find his way around. He wondered if he could get Dumbledore to sign his book, but just meeting him in person would be truly incredible…

As he walked, images flew through his head of meeting him…Dumbledore giving him some kind of award…Dumbledore telling him that he was the greatest student that he had ever had the pleasure of teaching…Lost in his own thoughts, he did not notice when a pretty red head girl and a sour-faced boy passed by.

After a few minutes of aimless wandering, and helping himself to some sweets from the trolley witch, he stuck his head into another apartment to find James in deep discussion with another boy, whose sharp features, expensive robes and the way he held himself with dignity and pride identified him as a pure blood.

James turned round and smiled at Hadrian, his eyes sparkling with mischievousness. "Where were you?" he asked.

Hadrian scowled. "Looking for you for the past thirty minutes. Thanks for ditching me." He finished, looking at the other boy. "My name is Hadrian Potter. What's yours? He asked, extending a hand and smiling.

The boy took his hand, looking between him and James with a surprised expression. "You're brothers?" he said, his eyebrows raising sceptically. James just shrugged and Hadrian said playfully, "Yes, unfortunately. You still have told me your name."

"Sirius, Sirius Black," he said. Hadrian noticed that he put a lot more pride in the first name than the last.

"Any relation to Arcturus Black? I've read a lot of books he wrote and I'm a great fan," he said leaning forward, interested. To his great surprise, Sirius scowled at him before replying reluctantly, "Yeah, he's my grandfather," He suddenly fixed Hadrian with an intense gaze before saying, "I could ask you the same question. You look quite like him.

Hadrian processed this new information in his head for a couple of seconds before it clicked. His mother's maiden name was Black. That meant that it was quite probable that he and Sirius could have the same grandfather. This could also meant that he and James were related to Sirius.

Keeping his face straight, Hadrian just shrugged and took out his first year book on transfiguration, even though he had practically memorised every page. Extra studying never hurt anyone. Sirius just grunted and sat down, looking out the window.

A comfortable silence descended on the carriage and its occupants. By his own estimation, they should be arriving at Hogwarts in about ten minutes.

After a few minutes, a thin boy with pale skin, greasy hair and shabby robes entered with a distraught ginger haired girl. The boy sat next to Hadrian and the girl sat opposite him, next to Sirius. Despite trying to focus on the words in his book, he couldn't help but hear the end part of their conversation…

"This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!" the boy said excitedly. The girl gave a weak smile and nodded, wiping away the tears on her face. "You'd better be in Slytherin," he continued smiling at the girl.

At this point James perked up beside him, his eyes narrowing at the mention of the House of Snakes. "Slytherin?" he said, snorting in derision before turning around to Sirius and saying, "Who'd want to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

Sirius didn't smile and replied quietly, "My whole family has been in Slytherin." James looked stunned before shaking his head, smiling and saying, "Blimey, and I thought you seemed alright. Sirius grinned back before saying, "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you both headed, if your given the choice," inclining his head towards Hadrian and James.

Hadrian responded first, smiling while saying, "I think I'm destined for Ravenclaw, personally. I like reading, and magic is _fascinating_." James sent him a long suffering look before lofting up an invisible sword and saying, "'_Gryffindor, were dwell the brave of Heart,' _a quote Hadrian remembered from one of the chapters from _Hogwarts: A History _on the four houses. "Just like my dad," he finished, a cloudy look overcoming his face as he recalled some of his father's stories of the adventures he had with his fellow Gryffindor's.

The pale boy made a small, displeased noise in the back of his throat causing James to turn on him angrily. "Got a problem with that," he demanded, showing that he inherited his mother's temper. The greasy haired boy sneered slightly before saying, "No," _which I very much doubt _thought Hadrian watching as his brother puff up in rage at the perceived insult, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy.."

Sirius interjected at this point, saying, "Where you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?"

James roared in laughter and Hadrian sniggered. The red-head glared at them with varying degrees of disgust before standing up, the other boy mirroring her as she said, "Come on Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…," copied James and Sirius, successfully imitating the girl's high pitched voice. As they walked to leave, James shouted to their retreating backs after trying to trip Severus up, "See ya, Snivellus," as the compartment door slammed shut.

Hadrian allowed himself to join in with the other boys mocking of the two students, despite thinking that maybe he should have been a little more kind to them.

After commenting on the rudeness of the 'greasy git' for a couple more minutes, the train came to a halt in an old station. He heard an older student shouting for everyone to disembark as he followed James out of the compartment. After exiting the train, he turned to face the largest man he had ever seen. He was quite simply _enormous._ The man was shouting over him saying, "Firs' years this way! Firs' years this way!"

After everyone was assembled, they were led down to a small dock were they were moored rowing boats. The prefect, a student. With shoulder length platinum blond hair and a green and silver tie. Hadrian, James and Sirius shared a boat along with another boy, who after a quick conversation while the boat moved revealed that his name was Remus Lupin. Everyone around them was excitedly speculating about what they would be learning first.

Hadrian was particularly interested In Transfiguration, Charms and Defence against the Dark Arts. According to the students around them, the Defence job was jinxed so that no teacher lasted more than a year. Hadrian doubted that though, as Albus Dumbledore was the Headmaster and surely he could be able to remove a jinx of that seriousness . All conversations on every boat stopped when they went around the corner of a large rock, with a clump of vegetation growing on the side, and saw Hogwarts castle.

Hadrian's first thought was that he was dreaming. The castle clung to the side of a massive hill, dwarfing the rest of the landscape around by its sheer immensity. The architecture was so beautiful that Hadrian did not need to have read _Hogwarts: A History _to know that it had been built by magic. Every light on its hundreds of windows had orange lights shining out them, now being reflected by the lake that was black, like an eerie copy of the castle trapped underwater. It took his breath away, literally. "_Incredible,"_ he whispered, getting strange looks from Sirius and Remus and an amused one from James. He blushed and muttered something about magical castles.

The boats disembarked and they were led up three sets of the sandstone coloured stairs, to come across huge double doors and a tall man who looked about sixty, with silvery grey hair and blue eyes. Despite his age, there was nothing frail about him. He had an air experience and wisdom.

"Good, evening students," he said in a deep gruff voice, looking them all in the eye and seeming to assess their worth by just by looking at them. "I am Professor Blackwell, the new Defence against the Dark Arts instructor and the teacher who will inform you about the houses of Hogwarts. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has produced powerful and intelligent wizards and witches over the course of Hogwarts' history. When you are at the school, your house is like your family. The points system in Hogwarts," he waved his hand in the direction of four hourglasses works like this: you gain points by preforming well in class and behaving politely and responsibly. You lose points by disregarding the rules and failing to complete homework."

"In a few moments," he said, gesturing his arm in a sweeping arc over the double doors, "You will be taken into the Great Hall and sorted into houses. Despite what you may have heard from your parents and guardians, there is no undesirable house to be sorted into." At his last words, he took out his wand and flicked it towards the doors causing them to open and reveal the Great Hall.

It was a huge room, easily able to house hundreds of wizards. Four tables were placed next each other, arranged in a vertical fashion with the colours of each house decorating the tablecloths and banners hanging proudly above them. At the back of the hall, there was a large table with various teachers sitting in chairs facing the students.

Hadrian was only looking for one wizard though. The wizard. The _legend_. Albus Dumbledore sat in a large high backed chair facing the students like the other teachers. He was a tall man, easily towering over the others, and had half-moon spectacles perched atop a long, thin nose that looked like it had been broken at least twice. His blue eyes twinkled cheerfully as he watched the new students enter the hall and to Hadrian, he seemed to radiate and give off an aura of pure _power._

Shaking his head to dispel the feeling of awe he felt, Hadrian distracted himself by looking up at the levitating candles, wondering how they managed to keep them afloat without using a wand. Professor Blackwell stepped up to the almost empty space between the staff table and the students, occupied only by a simple wooden chair.

He then brought out an old, worn _hat _of all things out from behind his back and called out, "Avery, Thomas." A boy with dirty blond hair and a reserved expression stepped up to the stool and sat on it before the hat was placed onto his head. After a couple of seconds of silence, to Hadrian's immense shock the brim of the hat actually _opened _and shouted out, "_Slytherin_"! Avery took of the hat, placing it carefully on the stool, before sauntering over to what Hadrian presumed was the Slytherin table with a smug little grin on his face.

The rest of the sorting seemed to pass as a blur, only paying attention when Sirius and the annoying muggleborn witch, Lily, got sorted into Gryffindor. He paid close attention as the list grew nearer to his name. "Potter, James," said Blackwell as James walked confidently up to the stool. Almost as soon as the hat touched his head, it shouted , "_Gryffindor_." _What a surprise! _Hadrian thought sarcastically as James walked down to the cheering Gryffindor table. "Potter, Hadrian," Professor Blackwell said, looking alert and awake despite the time.

Hadrian walked briskly up to the stool, wanting to make a good impression on Dumbledore and the rest of the staff. The moment the hat was placed on his head, he heard a voice speak inside his skull saying, _"Oh, what's this? Natural Occulemency shields, very impressive. You are very powerful too, even at his age. You are also naturally skilled at difficult branches of magic, like transfiguration if conjuring at 6 years old is any indication. You're possibly the most talented wizard at transfiguration that I've sorted since Albus."_ Hadrian flushed in pride at being called an equal in anything to his idol. "_It will a great pleasure to sort you. Now to the important question: Where to put you? Hufflepuff is out of the question, as it takes great admiration and respect for you to be loyal to anyone, which I think you have neither for your peers. You are brave, but not impulsively so like the Gryffindor's, so not that either. You are very ambitious and cunning, and I believe that you would do well in the House of Serpents. But you are also extremely intelligent, with a logical mind and a love of learning magic that I have rarely seen in anybody your age. Therefore, I believe you will succeed well in _RAVENCLAW!"

Hadrian took off the Sorting Hat, slightly shakenthat it could read his mind so easily. _What did it mean when it said 'Natural Occulemcy Shields'? _he thought, walking towards the clapping Ravenclaw table. As made a mental note to research what Occulemency was, he caught James' eye. He looked over at Hadrian a little sadly before smiling in a congratulatory way, before turning back to face the front and clapping as Remus Lupin was sorted into Gryffindor.

After Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin, a few more students were called up before the ceremony ended. Albus Dumbledore stood as he used a sonorous charm to project his voice and drown out all other conversations.

"Welcome to another glorious year at Hogwarts!" he said, his deep voice surprisingly gentle for such a powerful wizard. "Before the prefects hand out the new timetables, I would like to congratulate and welcome our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, the ex-auror Professor Blackwell!"

There was a thunderous applause for the former auror, as dark wizard catchers were seen as the elite: the policemen, Special Forces and soldiers of the Wizarding community all rolled into one. As a consequence of this, it required a very good qualification in Defence and meant that he probably knew a lot about the subject and would be an excellent teacher. Blackwell for his part merely bowed his head humbly and sat back down.

"Mr Filch has also informed me that any merchandise bought from the recently opened joke shop, Zonko's is off limits," he informed, his eyed twinkling with amusement as loud groans were heard from the large majority of the student body, mostly from the Gryffindor table.

"Now, tuck in!" he said, clicking his fingers. Instantly, all the empty plates and platters were filled with all sorts of appetising foods. In awe of the headmaster's ability, Hadrian hesitantly took a bite of a chicken leg. His eyes widened as he swallowed a piece. It was quite possibly the most delicious thing he had ever eaten!

After half an hour of gorging himself, the Headmaster called it a night, telling the prefects to lead the students to the common rooms. There was a loud scraping sound of benches being pushed across the ground and the murmur of people talking as they were lead up to their common rooms. A prefect with blond hair and grey eyes led them up an impossibly large number of winding stairwells until eventually they stopped in front of a door with an ornate door knocker in the shape of a raven. The prefect turned towards them and made shushing motions with his hands before speaking.

"If you want to enter the common room, you must chap the door using the knocker and it will tell you the riddle. You must figure out the riddle before being allowed to enter. It changes every week, so keep your wits sharp in order to enter quickly and impress your peers. As a test, you have to figure out this week's riddle in order to enter," he said smirking, obviously thinking that they were all too thick to figure it out quickly.

He stepped forward and knocked the door using the knocker. A voice sounded from the knocker, saying, "_In the morning I have four legs. At noon I have two legs. In the evening, I have three legs. What am I?_"

The prefect lounged on the wall, watching the students as they immediately launched into discussion on what it could be. Hadrian stood perfectly still as he did when he was thinking hard, his brows furrowed. After a few minutes of systematically analysing the sentences and eliminating any impossible solutions, he thought he had. He stepped forward, all conversations still going on around him. The only person that was watching him was the prefect, his eyes narrowing. "You're a human." He said, feeling a rush of triumph as the door opened. He passed by the shocked prefect and his annoyed peers, irritated that Hadrian had figured it out before them as he entered into the common room.

He loved it instantly. The windows at the left of the room would give a spectacular view of the mountains round the castle by day. In the right corner, there was a large marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw which loomed over the blue sofas and armchairs next to the bookcase, as if it was giving the impression that she was matching them as they studied. The ceiling was dominated by a deep blue, with magically animated stars twinkling down at them. There was also an exotic blue and bronze carpet covering the floor and the fireplace next to the bookshelf gave a comfortable warmth. There was a small pile of trunks neatly arranged in the middle of the floor.

Not waiting for the prefects instructions, Hadrian grabbed his trunk from the pile, raced up the stairs and took a left following the sign that said boys only. He walked into a high ceilinged room with a crystal chandelier hanging from the middle. There were four beds all arranged in an orderly manner, made of black wood and royal blue curtains. Picking the bed at the far left with a good view of the outside, he picked up his trunk and collapsed onto his new bed, exhausted by the events of the day.


	3. First Impressions

**The Other**

**Chapter 3: First Impressions **

Bars of sunlight streaked through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the bedroom. Hadrian groaned and rolled over, trying to bury himself in the covers to get away from the light. After a few minutes of relaxation he threw the covers off, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, blinking blearily at the toilet. He stumbled over to the room, quickly stripped down and entered the shower. He turned it on and the hot water blasted down at him in a cascading fountain, jolting him awake. After a couple of enjoyable minutes, he stepped out and dried himself before getting changed into his school robes.

A smile crept over his face when he realised where he was. Hogwarts! _I wonder what I have got first_ Hadrian thought, rifling through his bag and pulling out his timetable. He grinned with excitement as he read it, eyes scanning over it with interest. _Defence, Transfiguration, History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures. Fascinating!_

After fixing his hair and checking himself to make sure he looked presentable, he checked the time with a sliver pocket watch that his father had gotten him as a gift for his first year. It was decorated on the sides with interesting runes. _Probably there for decoration _he thought, studying them intently. _Still, _he mused after putting it away, _It could be useful to know what they mean._

According to the watch, he had an hour and a half before the first class started. _Let's give myself a head start then, shall we? _He proposed, taking out and opening his book on _An Introduction on the Dark Arts by Arcturus Black_. He hadn't read it yet, so hopefully it was as interesting as Black's other book…

**_An Introduction to the Dark Arts chapter one: Defining the Dark Arts_**

_What are the Dark Arts? Debates about this question have raged on for centuries, unable to reach a suitable conclusion. Often, they are described as evil or as powerful tools. I will not state my personal opinion in this book, as if you are reading it you are looking to be introduced to the Dark Arts and probably know nothing about them and therefore you will probably reach your own by the end of the book. I will not turn you biased in either direction. _

_The Dark Arts are usually used to describe a branch of mysterious, powerful and dangerous magic. Many people think that you need malicious intent to perform a Dark spell. This is only partially correct. For example, the Darkness Hex is perhaps the most harmless and basic Dark spell there is. To cast it successfully you need to want the person you are casting it on to only be able to see darkness. It does not require you to want to harm them in any way. An example of this could be if someone cast an overpowered Lumos charm very close to someone eyes. To prevent them from suffering from damaged eyesight, you could cast the Darkness Hex to make them unable to see it anymore, preventing further damage from taking place._

_Another thing that defines the Dark Arts is the feeling of europhia that is felt when casting it. The feeling becomes more potent the more powerful and advanced the spell. This is one of the things which truly separate the Dark Arts from other branches of magic. Dark magic does not necessarily have to be used for evil, though many dark lords use them because they are powerful. Be forewarned though: with everything their extremes. The Crutiatus curse is one of the most dangerous dark spells and probably the most evil. Not because it is the most powerful or complicated one, but because casting the Crutiatus Curse requires you to want to torture someone you hate. It cannot be fuelled by righteous anger, but by frothing, malicious __**hate**__ and a desire to see your opponent or victim scream in absolute agony. This is why it is listed as one of the three Unforgivable curses and immediately warrants a life sentence in Azkaban. This law was introduced in 1717 after the end of the reign of the Dark Lord Tybalt, who…_

_Interesting, _Hadrian thought as the page ended. Just as he was about to move onto the next, he noticed a small number of legal borderline dark spells at the bottom of the page that the author recommended trying. One in particular caught his eye, _Flagrate _the fire-whip curse. After memorising the wand movement, he took out his blackthorn wand and decided to try it.

He took a deep breath in anticipation and mimicked the wand movement shown in the book, whispering_, "Flagrate." _As he said the incantation_,_ thin whip of flame materialised at the end of his wand, stretching about two meters in length. He stared at the flame in awe. "_So this is what magic is like…" _he thought reverently, raising the wand. As he did so, he willed the flame to expand out another meter and to his great surprise, it did.

Overcome by the excitement of the moment, he rose his wand cracked the flame like a whip. Due to the small size of the room, the flame lashed out and hit the mirror next to the sink, cracking it and making it fall over with a loud crack.

Hadrian swore as he saw it fall and mentally called out to his power, retracting the flame. Recalling the incantation and wand movement for the mending charm, he said, "_Reparo_." The shards of glass instantly put themselves back to their original place. Hadrian sighed in relief, slightly impressed that he had managed to successfully preform a borderline Dark curse before hurrying back into the bedroom.

It seemed that the noise he made had not gone unnoticed. Several students had woken up and one or two were stumbling into the bathroom. The only one that seemed anywhere near ready was a small boy with hair the colour of straw and a light smattering of freckles across his face. He recognised the boy as Bartemius Crouch Jr. His father was the head of the auror office and a very important man, or so he had heard from his father.

Hadrian passed by the boy and picked up his bag of black leather, selecting all his school books and bringing along his books _Transfiguration: The Power of Change _and _Advanced Duelling techniques. _Bringing the Dark Arts book was out of the question unfortunately. He did not want to endure questioning by a teacher on why he was carrying around a Dark Arts book.

He walked out of the common room and took a random left, going down the stairs to the fourth floor. After a couple of minutes of aimless wandering, he realised he was lost. He was about to look for a prefect for directions when he heard a voice from behind him say, "Well, what do we have here?" He turned around to come face-to-face with Albus Dumbledore, wearing light blue robes decorated with little muffins and a grandfatherly like smile, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

Hadrian found his hands fumbling at the bag, undoing all the clips and taking out a book. Dumbledore frowned in confusion before recognising the title of the book, his smile turning amused. Hadrian blushed and said quietly, "Was wondering if you could sign my book, sir," as respectfully as he could, handing him the book and the quill.

Dumbledore took the book and chuckled at the quill saying, "No need. "A large eagle feathered quill suddenly materialised out of nowhere in his hand, and he then signed the inside page of _Transfiguration: The power of Change _with the name _'Albus Dumbledore' _in a neat, flowing script.

Hadrian's mouth was hanging open. _Wandless conjuring, _he thought as Dumbledore handed the book back, once again awed by the incredible power and skill of the old wizard. Dumbledore smiled at him again before asking, "Now, my dear boy, could you tell me the reason you are out wandering on your own? The prefects should be escorting you to your first class?"

Hadrian mumbled something along the lines of "Left early." Dumbledore chuckled before saying, "You have Defence first, am I correct?" Seeing Hadrian's nod, he continued, "Two floors down, five classes to the right. Enjoy your first day, Hadrian!" He finished by turning around, his robes swirling as he departed down the corridor.

Hadrian followed Dumbledore's instructions, finally reaching the class just as everyone else started moving in. The blond prefect stepped forward, hissing angrily and saying, "Where were you?" Not waiting for a response, he shoved Hadrian into the class as everyone else took their seats. With a jolt, he realised that they were sharing the class with the Gryffindors. He spotted James sitting next to Black and Lupin. Noticing his brother, James gave him a wink before turning back to his friends and continuing their loud conversation on the newest racing brooms. Hadrian took the only seat available, next to Bartemius.

Professor Blackwell stepped out from behind his desk, hard eyes narrowing as he studied them all. Not bothering to start with introductions he launched straight into his first speech. "In this class, I will not tolerate insurbodation. The punishments for this will be harsh." Despite this rather intimidating introduction, his face broke into a smile. "I also hope that you will find every class fascinating and enjoyable. This is how the lessons will be structured: When the class starts, I will give you a small lecture on the given topic. The rest of the period will be dominated by work and at the end of the lesson we will practise what we have learned and, if we get through enough, you will have to duel in order to prove that you understand the practical side.

"Over the course of this year, we will be focusing on curses and how to protect yourself from them. Can anyone tell me what a curse is?" he finished, his eyes scanning the classroom. Hadrian's hand shot up immediately and he was surprised to see that no one else knew. "Mr Potter?" he said raising an eyebrow as James perked up.

"Curses are spells used with the intention of causing harm, control, or even death to the victim," he recited, perfectly recalling that definition from the book _Curses and Counter-Curses._ Blackwell gave him an appraising look before smiling and saying, "10 points to Ravenclaw." Hadrian noticed the happy looks from the Ravenclaws at earning points and jealousy from some Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. He sneered at the ones who looked jealous, disgusted by their ignorance. James flashed him a proud smile before turning back to listen to the teachers talk about the origin of curses and what separated them from Jinxes and Hexes.

After about twenty minutes of lecturing on the different aspects of curses and how to recognized them, Professor Blackwell told them to stand up and with a swish of his wand the desks and chairs moved them to the sides of the room.

"Now for the practical side of the lesson. Do any of you know any hexes?" he said after all the students gathered in front of him. Once again, Hadrian's hand was the only one in the air. "Yes Hadrian?" he said with an amused smile.

"The flinging hex. The incantation is _Flippendo." _The ex auror smiled widely again before saying, "Excellent! 10 points to Ravenclaw!"

"Now," he continued, turning to the rest of the class. "When we are studying the practical side of Defense, we will only be using Hexes unless I specifically tell you to use other types of spells. The reason for that is this: Jinxes usually have some kind of humorous side effect and are normally useless in proper duels, and curses are too dangerous for first years to use in duels without accidently hurting themselves and others. Hexes are the area in between as they are useful in duels and are normally not to dangerous. By the end of this year, I want you to be able to cast a barrage of spells that are powerful enough to weaken my shield charm. I was noted in the auror corps for my shields being especially powerful."

"You will now duel to demonstrate that you have listened to what I have told you," Professor Blackwell said, smiling as the students started whispering excitedly at the prospect. "Have no fear though," he informed them, noticing the worried and panicked looks on some of the students faces, "before we start, I will teach you a very basic dueling spell: the Disarming charm."

After a few minutes of practicing it only Hadrian, James, Bartemius and a Gryffindor boy called Frank Longbottem. After 15 more minutes, the whole class had finally managed it. "Excellent!" Blackwell exclaimed, obviously just as excited as the students at the prospect of watching them dueling. "Now we shall begin!"

Hadrian was paired with Bartemius and James sidled up with Sirius. "I will give a count and when I reach three, you and your partner will both cast the Disarming spell. Ready up!" There was a shuffling of feet as everybody in the class took their positions. Bartemius stood across him and adopted a shaky stance, wetting his lips. Hadrian's position however was a classic dueling pose; knees bent, on the balls of his feet and his wand raised above his head, ready to fall and unleash a spell.

Blackwell held up his hand and said,

"One."

"Two." Barty wetted his lips.

"Three!"

"_Expelliarmus!"_

_"__Expelliarmus!"_

Flashes of lights and shouts filled the room. Out of both Hadrian's and Barty's wands shot out golden jets of light, each heading for the target in the opposite direction. The only difference between them was that Hadrian's spell looked a lot more vibrant in color and more…_solid._

Barty's spell hit Hadrian, sending his wand spinning into the air and making him overbalance slightly. Unfortunately for poor Bartemius, Hadrian's spell smashed into him with an incredible amount of power and force, raising him into the air to crash into the wall and ripping the wand from his hand. He slid down the wall and groaned, trying to stand up but failing. The whole class stared at Hadrian with varying degrees of awe and fear.

Hadrian stared at his hands, his mind trying to process what he had seen. He had always known that he was powerful, but he never realized_ how_ powerful. A rush of what could only be described as pure pleasure rushed through him as he realized that he was stronger than any of his classmates could ever hope to be!

"Well done, Hadrian!" Professor Blackwell said with wide eyes, shaking Hadrian out of his thoughts. He dismissed the class early, sending Barty to the hospital wing before sitting down, trying to process what he had witnessed.

Hadrian hurried to his next class, catching up with James, Sirius and Lupin. James noticed him and grinned, saying, "Nice spell! How did you manage to do that? He must have been launched about three meters!" Hadrian just shrugged. James grunted before taking out his timetable and telling them that it was transfiguration next. As they walked to the next class, Hadrian wondered if he would enjoy it as much as he enjoyed defence, which he enjoyed a lot indeed.

After a short journey traversing Hogwarts' changing stairwells, they reached a classroom on the third floor. On the front of the dark oak door, there was a plaque saying _ . _They stepped inside the class and Hadrian eyes flicked around, trying to take in as much information as possible about the room.

The walls were bare and undecorated, with a lone chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. The desks were arranged in an orderly fashion and at the back of the room, behind a large desk, an old man with silvery hair and wrinkly skin was sitting in a wooden chair, seemingly ignoring them while marking papers. People gradually filtered in through the door, until the whole class was present.

They sat awkwardly in silence for 5 minutes, nobody daring to speak and the only sound was the scratching of the quill. Eventually, the man put down the quill and stood up. He surveyed them all, his eyes burning like augers.

"It is good that you know patience," he said in a thin, reedy voice." It is something that will get you far in transfiguration along with practise, commitment and hard work. I am Professor Rosier and I will be your transfiguration teacher for this year."

"Transfiguration is the art of changing one object to another," he continued, a long bony hand reaching inside his robes and withdrawing a wand. "It is one of the most difficult and dangerous branches of magic, very scientific in nature." With a casual wave of his wand, the desk transfigured itself into a wolf. The class clapped and cheered loudly, including Hadrian as he thought that it was very impressive. Bowing his head in acknowledgement to the applause, he transfigured the wolf back into the desk.

"What you saw there was a very advanced level of transfiguration. You will not be doing such magic until your fifth year at Hogwarts, for you O.W.L's. At the moment, we will start with something simple. Transfiguring a matchstick into a needle. When you receive your matchstick, you may begin." As he finished, matchsticks flew out of one of the shelves on the wall and settled in front of every student.

Mentally scoffing at the easiness of it, Hadrian waved his wand at the direction of the matchstick. As he did so he followed Dumbledore's rule of transfiguration, imagining the matchstick lengthening, turning silver and becoming pointy at one end while mentally listing off the properties of silver. As he did so while waving his wand, the matchstick instantly transfigured into a needle, perfect in almost all aspects. He looked at the rest of his classmates as they pointed their wands at the matchstick, faces showing anger and frustration as they failed to transfigure it. Hadrian was confused at why they all found it so difficult. He then realised that he wasn't just going to_ become_ great: he was _meant_ to be great.

He pocketed his wand smugly and was about to call over the teacher when he realised that Professor Rosier was looming over him, a smile on his thin face. "May I?" He asked, gesturing to the needle. Hadrian nodded and the professor looked over it, examining it very thoroughly. His face grew more surprised as time went on, eventually getting to the point where he stared at Hadrian intently before putting the needle down and shuffling away towards James, who was wearing a proud grin as he waved his needle.

By the end of the lesson only James, Hadrian and the muggleborn Lily had managed the transfiguration. It had taken the latter 50 minutes to do so and she was red faced and embarrassed when the teacher said that it wasn't perfect but decent enough. Hadrian sniggered at this, earning him a glare from Evans. He disliked her already.

After the class ended, they had History of Magic but it didn't take long for Hadrian to realise that it was quite probably the most boring lesson he would ever have. The old professor, Binns, just waffled on about, 'The First Goblin rebellion of 1674, instigated by Ragnurck the Red." It took all of his sheer willpower to stop himself from collapsing onto the desk and falling asleep. The teachers voice was strangely hypnotic and it seemed to lull all of the class into sleep.

After 60 draining minutes the class ended, the bell jolting most of the class awake. Relieved, Hadrian looked at his timetable and saw that they had Care of Magical Creatures next. He grinned to himself. The book _Fantastic Beasts and were to find them_ was one of his favourites and he was very excited at the prospect of seeing some of them.

Following the rest of his classmates and the prefect, they exited the castle, passing through the empty great hall, down the stairs and out near the gamekeepers hut. A young man who looked like he was a muggle weightlifter was leaning on a tree near the pumpkin patch, wearing sleeveless robes. _I suppose it makes sense that you would need to be strong to deal with dangerous creatures _Hadrian thought, noticing how the professor's muscles rippled as he moved to stand up next to the tree.

"Good morning and welcome to care of magical creatures. I am Professor Kettleburn and I will be your teacher this year."

Hadrian found the lesson very interesting. Kettleburn compromised his lessons completely of practical but assigned them a lot of homework to do to make up for the lack of theoretical work. During the lessons today, they studied trolls. He learned a lot of useful facts about them: They have magically resistant skin, are very aggressive and exceptionally stupid.

It was late afternoon by the time that the class finished. Kettleburn assigned them an essay on the physical and magical attributes of troll as they left, the first homework that they had been given so far.

James waved goodbye to Hadrian and left with his friends, presumably going back to their common rooms. Hadrian did the same, entering the Ravenclaw common room and finding an unoccupied armchair next to the bookcase and the roaring fire. Settling himself in comfortably, trying his best to ignore the rest of his peers who were playing games like exploding snap or wizards chess before reading the chapter on trolls in _Fantastic Beasts and where to find them _and doing his homework, already having memorized the information on trolls. After about half an hour of writing, he looked down at the essay and scanned his beautifully written handwriting. Satisfied with his work he left the common room, the sounds of laughter and bangs caused by exploding snap fading as he drew closer to his room.

He threw down his bag next to the bed before diving into it and selecting a book that he had left on the nightstand, picking up Dumbledore's book on transfiguration and reading on the theory behind switching spells before he succumbed to sleep.

The next few months seemed to pass as a blur to Hadrian. James and his little band of friends had now taken to calling themselves the Marauders. They seemed to think it was their obligation to prank the entire school. Hadrian was the only one they didn't prank as when they had tried to turn his meticulously arranged hair like James', he had ambushed them and their new friend, a pathetic little weasel named Peter, outside the Gryffindor common room. Staying true to the testament of 'brave Gryffindors', they fought back for about five seconds before running with their tails between their legs when Hadrian had started firing disarming charms at the ceiling, James shouting that they would get their revenge. Though it was very light hearted, the sight of them running away from him because of his power brought a warm, pleasurable feeling. He had also stuck up a friendship with Barty after Hadrian defeated him in a duel again and Barty had demanded that he would teach him. After initially refusing, he had decided to talk to him a lot more and after a few weeks Hadrian had reconsidered his decision and decided to help him.

Charms was fascinating, one of the most important aspects of magic. Unlike in all of his other classes, Hadrian was not the top student. Surprisingly, that muggleborn Evans girl was Professor Flitwicks favourite after she performed the levitation charm perfectly on her first time and providing a very in depth theory of how it works. Hadrian had got it to work about five minutes into the lesson, and his understanding of the theory was almost as good as Lily's. Hadrian took a while to come to terms with the fact the she was simply better than him at charms after she easily surpassed him after several lessons in the practical side. He contented himself with the fact that he was incredible at transfiguration and Defence. Hadrian also knew that he had something that she could never beat him in: Power.

Potions class was equally interesting, but another subject that he was not top in. Evans and the Snape boy had stolen that position, quickly rising to the top of the class and becoming Professor Slughorn's favourite pupils. No matter how hard he tried, he could not compete with Lily's quick brewing and Severus' inventiveness. He gained a grudging respect for them over the next few months, born out of reluctant admittance that they were better than him at potions. He was nowhere near bad though. If it hadn't been for Severus and Lily, he would have been the best in the year.

His knowledge and understanding of transfiguration and defence was increasing at an impressive rate and he savoured the moments when Rosier would praise him for managing a particularly difficult transfiguration or when Professor Blackwell gave him impressed looks after he defeated his opponents. He was getting so good that Blackwell had made several opponents duel him at the same time. The only time he had lost so far was when he had been placed against James and Sirius. James' constant barrage of spells as well as Sirius' agility finally overwhelmed him, though not before he caught Sirius with an Expelliarmus, sending him sliding across the floor.

Before he knew it, the Christmas holidays were upon him. He decided to go home, partly because his only friend had to go back to his home with his parents and also because Hadrian was missing his mother and father. He had thoroughly enjoyed his time at Hogwarts, but family was important.

He gathered up most of his things and left with James and the rest of the students who were going home. He took one last look at the twinkling castle before stepping onto the train.

The stars illuminated the sky over the astronomy tower, like specks of light fighting an ever-consuming darkness. _A rather apt metaphor for describing our current predicament, _thought Albus Dumbledore as he gazed down at the departing train with a pensive expression on his face. For the past three years there had been disappearances, mostly muggleborns that had cut themselves off for the Wizarding world but now it seemed that it was going to escalate into violence. The Daily Prophet had been even reported incidents of Aurors fighting wizards wearing masks, though they were quickly hushed up by the ministry. It had not spilled out into open war as of yet, but it wouldn't be long: Dumbledore estimated that Hogwarts would be under siege within the next five years.

_How could you, Tom?_

Albus shook his head before exiting the tower, his midnight blue robes swishing around him as he walked. Dwelling on the past and blaming himself would do no good. He had to focus on the present and the future to do anything of a constructive nature. At the moment, he had a staff meeting to attend.

He crossed a stairwell onto the second floor and opened the door to the immediate left. Most of the other staff was there already. They all looked his way when he entered, expressions of respect and unfortunately some awe. It was unconscious: a rather annoying side effect of being a very powerful wizard. Trying not to sigh, Albus sat down on the seat at the end of the small table and said, "So, how are the new students this year?"

Professor Slughorn stood up, puffing his chest out rather importantly. "We seem to be getting a very good batch. Already there are two very promising students: Lily Evans and Severus Snape. Both of them will have a very bright future in potions if they keep doing as well as they are already well ahead of most of their classmates. The only other student that is anywhere near their level is…Harrdan, or Henry Potter, I think."

Dumbledore nodded as Horace sat down. "Now you, Filius."

The diminutive Charms professor sat up, clearing his throat. "Lily Evans also shows promise in my class. I do not doubt that she will do great things one day. Another excellent student is Hadrian or 'Harrdan' as you put it Horace. While not up to Lily's standard, he is none the less one of the greatest charms students that I have seen in a long time. Both of them are well ahead of the rest of the class in both practical and theoretical."

Filius sat down with a rather happy expression on his face, pleased that he had two very good students to teach

"Hadrian is the most brilliant transfigurists I have had since you, Albus. He is definitely as good as you were at that age, if not better. He transfigured his matchstick on his first try."

Everyone in the room stared at Romulus Rosier, the transfiguration professor. The white haired old wizard just stared back silently. To say Dumbledore was shocked was an understatement. It was like he had been stunned and slapped awake. Romulus did not say anything that he did not believe was true, and he had proclaimed Albus as one of the best transfigurists in history when he was at school. To even hint that someone was better than he was at that age was nothing short of incredible.

Dumbledore regained his composure before everyone else and asked," Is there anyone else that shows skill?" Romulus hesitated before saying, "Yes actually. James Potter and Sirius Black. They are progressing well. But nothing like Hadrian."

When It became clear that he was not going to say anything more on the subject, Dumbledore turned towards Andrew Blackwell who was also rising to his feet, looking hesitant.

"I will also have to say that Hadrian is also one of the best students of Defence that I have ever taught. He has excellent instincts, a good understanding of the theory and is _very_ powerful. His disarming charm is powerful enough to raise someone off their feet and he is becoming so good that I am making him duel two opponents at the same time. If he continues as he is at the moment, I may have to increase this to three. James Potter alkso happens to be his brother and he…"

Dumbledore listened intently about anything else he could learn about Hadrian. He was Charles and Dorea's son it appeared. From what he remembered about them, Charles had an incredible sense of determination and willpower whereas Dorea was very studious and could read for hours if she found the material interesting: if it was magical, then it fit the criteria. It seemed that this boy had inherited both these traits along with a very large amount of power.

Later on when he was alone in his office, with only Fawkes and his crooning song for company, he thought, '_We will meet, Hadrian. We will meet.'_


End file.
